When
by pressontoknow
Summary: This, this new confidence and courage and vulnerability, is what had finally drawn her to him. She just knew he was going to say something about how he always got the girl in the end if she revealed all this to him.


**AN: This kind of just sprung up out of nowhere. At long last Jake and Amy are on the same page! Thank God, it was getting ridiculous. Anyway, reviews are always welcome. Enjoy!**

 **I don't own Brooklyn 99-not even Andy Samberg's beautiful face.**

The new captain is nothing spectacular.

Compared to Captain Holt, no captain will be ranking even close to spectacular in her book anytime soon.

Add to that the fact that the past few days have contained a lot of extraordinary events—namely, kissing Jake _three times_ , and her mentor leaving the precinct—and the ordinary, run of the mill middle-aged man, with a slight potbelly, a receding hairline, and an unexpectedly high-pitched voice, is nothing exciting. Amy greets Captain Ralph Henderson rather halfheartedly before going back to her desk to finish up the last of her reports for the day.

Who is she kidding? No work will be getting done after what happened in the storage locker.

Jake kissed her.

Jake Peralta _freaking_ kissed her.

And she totally kissed him back.

Amy feels a blush coloring her cheeks as she pretends to stare down at her reports, instead running over the moment in her mind. That look in his eyes just before he grabbed her, like he wanted her more than anything else in the whole world. How he hadn't tried to force her into it, just pressing his lips to hers in a steady, gentle pressure. How his arms gently encircled her body and held her close to him.

She had spent the previous night going over and over and _over_ the two kisses they had shared in order to keep their cover. As much as she tried to distract herself by watching TV and taking a hot bath and going to spend the night with her cousin, she couldn't help it—those moments were graven into her memory and she couldn't stop thinking about him.

About how much she liked him and wished she hadn't told him she didn't date cops because she wanted to date _him_. About how irritating he could be, but also hilarious, kind, gentle, charismatic, and warm. About how she's at the place where she wants to try this with him, see where it goes, and just deal with the consequences as they come. Because she thinks she could be more with him, _they_ could be more, and it could be amazing.

Thankfully they are both out of the office all day working on separate cases, her with Boyle and he with Rosa. She doesn't know quite yet how to act around him. They eat lunch together in the break room like usual and it's too strained, he's trying too hard not to flirt with her and she's pushing back, trying to make him laugh. He doesn't meet her halfway though, so it's just uncomfortable. She knows he wants to keep things between them professional because he doesn't want to lose her friendship, but the laughter and ease she treasured isn't there anymore.

After Captain Holt leaves she finds herself in the storage locker, just trying to process the events of the day, from the Captain's leaving to the awkwardness between Jake and her. Her heart can't help but leap when he comes in to check on her.

And then he kisses her.

So, all that to say, she is _freaking_ out. Not a bad sort of freaking out. She's happy, like _over the moon happy_ , that Jake kissed her. She'd thought he moved on, or that he didn't want to risk their professional relationship.

Amy wants this—she wants him—and he just gave her hope.

Apparently the new captain has heard about Jake because he immediately requests that he come to his office for "a chat". Amy's stomach kind of drops at the words but Jake looks totally unfazed, as he should be. He may have some unorthodox methods, but he's a good detective. The new captain should recognize that.

Amy is so distracted trying to keep from looking to see what Jake and Captain Henderson are talking about, she's honestly making more mistakes than progress on these reports. Add to that the fact that a swarm of butterflies seems to have taken up residence in her chest and her mind is racing a million miles a minute, and it's no wonder Rosa catches on. The woman is also a superb detective. And Amy has always struggled with wearing her heart on her sleeve.

"So," Rosa begins as she plops down into the chair next to Amy's desk, causing Amy to have a mini heart attack accompanied by a random muscle spasm that ends with her practically throwing her water bottle across the room, "based on the manic look in your eyes I'm guessing something finally happened between you and Jake."

Amy's brow furrows. "Finally?"

Rosa rolls her eyes. "Oh please. I've been listening to Jake whine about you since before he went undercover. I'm just glad he's finally talking to _you_ instead of me."

Amy's stomach drops again and she knows Rosa will probably make fun of her but she can't help the huge grin that spreads across her lips at the words. She tries to hide her smile behind the rim of her mug of tea but Rosa still smirks. "You look like a starving chipmunk that just found a treasure trove of nuts."

The delighted laugh that spills from Amy's lips is just a taste of the joy surging within her. "Thanks, Rosa."

"I'm glad you're happy," Rosa says seriously. "Send him to me if he does anything stupid. That's all I wanted to say." She glances toward the captain's office. "Also I wanted to freak Jake out. He probably thinks I'm warning you to stay away from him or something. Couldn't pass up the opportunity."

"I'm with you on that one," Amy replies with a smile as Rosa stands. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rosa."

Ten minutes later Amy gives up on her work for the day. She's giving it her halfhearted attempt, at best, and that's unacceptable. Maybe tomorrow she'll be less distracted.

Or, she thinks as she glances at Jake's back, maybe not.

She gathers her things slowly, taking her time to individually say goodbye to Terry and Charles. The latter is absolutely broken at Captain Holt's leaving, but Terry seems to think this isn't anything permanent. She holds onto that hope that the man who made them all stronger will eventually return.

She's just pressing the button for the elevator when she hears someone calling her name. She turns to see Jake running toward her, all his things gathered hastily together, and she tries to suppress the smile that threatens to overtake her face—she has to guard her heart, remember? And also they're at work—but it doesn't work. She smiles widely as he jogs over to her just as the elevator doors open. "Hey," she says softly.

"Hey," he replies, the look in his eyes making the butterflies in her stomach fly even more erratically. She's seen that look before, but only recently has she recognized what exactly it means.

It means he still wants something to happen between them. Romantic styles.

They end up crowded into the corner of the elevator along with a throng of other police officers and detectives trying to beat the worst of the rush hour traffic. She glances at him out of the corner of her eye and sees the small smile that seems affixed to his lips. He catches her eyes and the smile widens. She blushes and can hear his soft breath of laughter as she drops her head. Her own smile widens and she bumps her shoulder gently against his, her fingers tingling when he keeps the contact.

"Did you drive?" Jake asks when they're at his car.

Amy shakes her head. "I spent the night at my cousin's and she dropped me off this morning."

"Do…you want to go out to dinner?" he asks, his gaze steady as he carefully reads her reaction to the offer.

And this is it, she realizes. This is what changed the way she thought about him. For all those years before he went undercover, Jake usually just acted like a manchild around her—teasing her, making fun of her, laughing at her. But that all seemed to change when he finally expressed how he felt about her. And sure, he'd then left for six entire months, and sure, she'd been unsure, and sure, he was still immature. But even after his time undercover he'd had the guts to tell her his feelings were real and to respectfully back down as she was still with Teddy. Then he'd admitted he wanted to ask her out again, and even through the veneer of various accents her heart had squeezed painfully to see how disappointed he was with her rule.

This, this new confidence and courage and vulnerability, was what had finally drawn her to him.

She just _knew_ he was going to say something about how he always got the girl in the end if she revealed all this to him.

"Why Johnny," Amy says, making her voice a little more sultry, "are you finally asking me out on a proper date?"

The smile she gets in return is the huge, genuine one that she loves. "Well Dora," he replies, deepening his voice as his expression sobers, "I have to admit you weren't my first choice. There's this other girl, see, a real looker, but she doesn't date cops. So I guess I'm asking you instead."

Laughter bubbles from her lips. "You know, I pretty much renounced that rule yesterday when you told me you wanted to ask me out." Her heart clenches thinking about his earnest expression that morning in the break room, and how he'd tried so hard to make things "not weird" between them. It was clear he valued their relationship, and she loved that he valued it.

"Wow, seriously?" he replies, faking an irritated tone. "So all those times we had to kiss to keep our cover we could have been full on making out instead of trying to keep it professional?"

"Pretty much," she banters soberly, "though of course I would have considered that Boyle and Rosa could hear us and refrained. Wouldn't want them to feel uncomfortable."

She can tell he didn't expect her to agree with him by the way his eyebrows raise, and then he's smiling at her like she's his _prey_ or something. That kind of look really shouldn't make her feel even happier. "Oh Amy," he murmurs, taking a step closer to her and drowning her in his eyes, "when I make out with you, you won't be able to remember your own _name_ , much less worry about what other people think."

The fact that he says 'when' instead of 'if' kind of makes her want to jump him right there in the parking lot in front of all their coworkers and a myriad of surveillance cameras. Her stomach also clenches at the fact that he obviously sees this going beyond tonight—he's serious about this. She gnaws on her bottom lip, enjoying the way his eyes follow the movement, and swallows hard, trying to breathe deeply so the blush coloring her cheeks will fade.

Jake knows she gets flustered easily, and usually he'd tease her about it, but this time he just smiles gently and hooks her fingers with his, keeping them against the car so no one will be able to see. "I like you, Amy. I'd like to date you and see where this goes."

She smiles at him, open and honest as her emotions play across her face. "I'd like that, Jake." She smirks. "Took you long enough."

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, right, I told you how I felt like a year ago! You're the one who kept dating stupid, boring other men and coming up with dumb rules."

She shrugs. "Guess the timing's finally right, despite all your mistakes."

Her eyes twinkle at his expression of outrage as he gestures to his car. "Your chariot awaits, milady."

They end up at some hole in the wall diner that Jake knows about, and he makes her laugh until she's crying, and she just feels like he's so open and honest now, or maybe she just reads him better—how his eyes drink her in throughout the night. How he walks on the side of the road closest to the street, his hand holding hers firmly. How his hands are shaking just a little bit as he cups her face and kisses her goodnight.

It feels like a beginning, but also a continuation.

He really wasn't kidding when he warned her not to fall in love with him.


End file.
